Alarm clock movement



Nov. 11, 1958 0 0, PRQPHET 2,859,585

ALARM CLOCK MOVEMENT Filed April 16, 1956 United StatesPatent O ALARM CLOCK MOVEMENT Otto 0. Prophet, Wellesley Hills, Mass., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 16, 1956, Serial No. 578,305

Ciaims. (C1. s8 22) This invention relates to alarm clock movements f-or actuating an alarm mechanism at a pre-set time.

In devices of this type, it has been common practice to provide a pair of coaxially mounted gear driven cam members having cam surfaces thereon interacting with each other and with one of these members being axially movable to actuate an alarm device. One of the cam members is driven by a timing mechanism and the other is adjustable so that the position at which the aXi-al actuating movement occurs can be pre-set. It is necessa'ry to provide a movement for translating the axial movement of the movable cam member to an alarm device. My invention is concerned with such a movement.

Acoo'rdingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved low cost alarm clock movement having a minimum number of parts which may be easily manufactured.

In accordance with one 'aspect of this invention a lever is lpivoted to a stationary supporting structure. Spring means is provided for biasing a portion of the lever into the path of a vibrating member to prevent the operatio-n of said member. Another portion of the lever is positioned adjacent a timer-cperated, axially movable cam member for pivoting the lever against the force 'of the spring means to perrnit the operation of the vibrating member. By this arrangement, a very simple yet effective alarm actuation means is achieved.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this in- Vention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a clock with hands and dial plate removed embodying my improved alarm actuation means;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing my improved alarm actu'ation means;

Fig. 3 is a partial cross sectional' view on line 3-3 of Fig. l showing my improved alarm actuation device in one position of operation; and

Fig. 4 is a partial cross sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. l showing another position of operation of my improved alarm actuaticn means.

Referring now to the drawing, the clock in which the alarm may be used may be driven by a self-starting synchronous motor. Portions of the motor stator magnet core and energizing coil are shown at 1 and 2, respectively. Al resilient magnetic vibrator 3 operated by leakage fiux from the motor is arranged to have its free end portion 4 vibrate 'against stator nut 5 and produce an 'audible alarm at all times when the motor is energized, unless the vibrator is prevented from vibrating by one of the alarm control parts to be described. While not shown here, a complete motor, vibrator, and alarm clock drive of the character thus far referred to may be found in United States Patent 2505573, April 25, 1950, assigned to 'the same assignee as the present invention.

A supporting structure including a base plate 6 and a front plate 7 spaced from plate 6 and arranged parallel thereto is provided for supporting the clock mechanism. A cam gear 8 having 'a projecting cam portion 9 located thereon, is rotatably mounted on the supporting structure of the clock framework. A second rotatable cam gear 10 having cam surface 11 is also rotatably mounted on the clock-supporting structure, as shown, 'and is axially movable to actuate the alarm mechanism in a manner hereinafter described. As shown in Fig. 2, the angular position of cam member 8 is manually adjustable by means of gear 12 and knob 13. Cam gear 10 is driven by the tirning mechanism of the clock, through a suitable gearing arrangement in a manner known in the art.

My improved lever arrangement for permitting or restraining vibration lof vibrator arm 3, for transmitting a biasing force urging cam gear 10 axially toward cam gear 8, and for transmitting axial movement of cam gear 10 to the means for permitting or restraining motion of the vibrator arm 3 will now be more particularly described. As shown in Fig. 3, this arrangement includes a lever 14 which may be formed from a single piece of flat sheet material. Lever 14 is generally T-shaped and is provided with two arms 15 and 16 substantially in line with each other, an arm 17 substantially parallel to arms 15 and 16 and spaced adjacent to arm 16, and an arm 18 gener-ally perpendicular to arms 15, 16 and 17. The end of arm 16 preferably is provided with a lug 19 which extends through a hole 20 formed in base plate 6 for providing pivot means for lever 14. Arm 16 is shorter than arm 17 'so that portions o-f arm 17 are arranged below pivot means 19 while arm 15 is arranged above pivot lug 19 as shown in Fig. 3. A circular portion 21 may be provided on arm 16 adjacent pivot lug 19 in order to reduce friction between base plate vtland arm 16. The end portion of arm 17 is provided with a circular lug 22 f-or slidable engagement with a side surface of cam gear 10. A lug 23 formed on arm 15, is arranged generally perpendicular thereto, and passes through a slot 24 formed in base plate 6. It should be appreciated that lug 23 is provided for contacting end portion 4 of vibrator arm 3 for restraining motion of vibrator arm 3. The end portion of arm 18 may extend through a slot 25 formed in front plate 7 for cooperating With lug and slot means 23, 24, and pivot means 19, 20 for gui-ding lever 14 in one plane.

A compression spring 26 is provided for acting through lever 14 to bias cam gear 10 to the left as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4, and for urging lug 23 to the right as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4. One end of compression spring 26 may rest in a depression 27 formed in front plate 7 and the other end may be guided over a lug 28 formed on the end of arm 15 of lever 14.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that my improved movement for translating the axial movement of cam 10 to alarm means 4 comprises only two parts, a simple coil spring 26 and a fiat lever 14. Further, lever 14 may be formed in a single stamping operation since all of the components thereof are arranged in the same plane. Thus, an exceedingly sim-- ple yet effective' movement is obtained.

As shown in Pig. 2, the alarm mechanism is provided with a suitable shut-off device, such as lever 29, having a projection 30 thereon which is positioned so as to engage vibrator arm end portion 4 and restrain vibratory movement thereof when the lever is moved inward to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 to the or position. The shut-off lever 29 is shown in the on position in Fig. 2,

that is, with projection 30 out of engagernent with the' end 4 of vibrator arm 3.

Operation For operation of the alarm, the manual' shut-off lever 29 i-s pulled outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus allowing end portion 4 of vibrator arm 3 to drop onto lug 23 of lever 14. In this position, lug 23 holds vibrator 3 up and away from field nut 5. The alarm is set to the 'required time by rotating knob 13, thus rotating cam gear 8 to the proper angular location. As the pre-set time is approached, cam surface 11 will engage cam surface 9 to slide gear 10 rearwardly thereby pivoting lever 14 about lug 19. At the pre-set time, lug 22 of lever 14 is moved rearwardly so that lever 14 pivoting on lug 19 compresses spring 26 and moves lug 23 far enough to the left, as shown in Fig. 4, to release end portion 4 of vibrator arm 3. Vibr'ator 3 snaps down on field nut and starts buzzing. The buzzing will continue until shut-off lever 29 is pushed inwardly so that projection 30 thereon contacts end portion 4 of vibrator arm 3 to thereby restrain further motion of vibrator arm 3.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skill'ed in the 'art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention, and therefore, it is aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall Within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an alarm clock comprising a tmng mechanism, a supporting structure, a first cam member rotatably mounted on said supporting structure, a second cam member rotatably mounted on said supporting structure in coaxial relationship with said first cam member and axially movable with respect thereto, one of said cam members being caused to rotate by said timing mechanism, means for manually adjusting the relative angular position 'of said first cam member, and a resilient arm, the improvement comprising a lever having a plurality of arms, pivot means for said lever, one of said lever arms having portions thereof arranged on one side of said pivot means in slidable engagement with said second cam member, a second one of said arms arranged on the other side of said pivot means, lug means formed on-said second arm, and spring means arranged between said supporting structure and said second lever arm for urging said lug means to one position for restraining motion of said resilient arm whereby axial movement of said second cam member away from said first cam member moves said lever in opposition to said spring means thereby moving said lug means to a second position for permitting motion of said resilient arm.

2. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged parallel thereto, a first cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate, a second cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate in coaxial relationship with said first cam member and axially movable with respect thereto, means for manually adjusting the relative angular position of said first cam member, and a resilient vibrator arm, the improvement comprising a lever pivoted to said base plate, spring means being positioned for engagement with said front plate for urging a first portion of said lever into the path of said vibrator arm to prevent vibration of said vibrator arm, and a second portion of said lever being positioned for engagement with said second cam member whereby axial movement of said second cam member away from said first cam member pivots said lever in opposition to said spring means thereby moving said first portion of said lever out of the path of said vibrator arm to permit vibration of said vibrator arm.

3. In an alarm clock comprising a tmng mechanism,

la base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, a first cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate, a second cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate in coaxial relationship with said first cam member and axially movable with respect thereto, one of said cam members being caused to rotate by said tmng mechanism, means for manually adjusting the angular position of said first cam member and an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm, the improvement comprising a lever having a plurality of arms formed integrally therewith, one of said arms being provided with pivot means for pivoting said lever to said base plate, a second one of said arms having portions thereof arranged on one side of said pivot means in slidable engagement with said seclond cam member, a third one of said arms arranged on the other side of said pivot means and a fourth one of said arms being arranged generally perpendicular to said second arm, a slot formed in said front plate for receiving an end portion of said fourth arm for guiding said lever, lug means formed on said third lever arm, and spring means arranged between said front plate and said third lever arm for urging said lug means and said lever in one direction, said third lever arm having portions thereof arranged for engagement with said resilient vibrator arm for controlling vibration of said vibrator arm in response to axial movement of said second cam member.

4. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base platel and arranged generally parallel thereto, 'a first cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate, a second cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate in coaxial relationship with respect to said first cam member and axially movable with respect thereto, one of said cam members being caused to rotate by said timing mechanism, means for manually adjusting the angular position of said first cam member, and 'an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm, the improvement comprising a lever having a plurality of arms formed integrally therewith, one of said arms being provided with pivot means for pivoting said lever to one of said plates, a second one of said arms having portions thereof arranged on one side of said pivot means in slidable engagement with said second cam member, a third one of said arms |arranged on the other yside of said pivot means, and a fourth one of said arms being arranged generally perpendicular to said second arm, a slot formed in the other one of said plates for receiving an end portion of said fourth arm for guiding said lever, s'aid third lever arm having portions thereof arranged for engagement with said resilient vibrator arm for controlling vibration of said vibrator arm in response to axial movement of said second cam member.

5. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, a base plate. a front plate spaced from said base plate and |arranged generally parallel thereto, a first cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate, a second cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate in coaxial relationship with respect to said first cam member and axiall'y movable with respect thereto, one of said cam members being caused to rotate by said timing mechanism, means for manually adjusting the annular position of said other cam member, 'and an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm, the improvement comprising a lever having a plurality of arms formed integrally therewith, one of said arms being provided with an integrally formed pivot projection extending through a hole formed in said base plate for pivoting said lever to said base plate, a second one of said arms having portions thereof arranged on one side of said pivot means in slidable engagement with said second cam member7 a third one of said arms arranged on the other side of said pivot means, zsaid third lever arm having portions thereof arranged for engagement with said resilient vibrator arm for controlling vibration of said vibrator arm in response to axial movement of said second cam member, a coil spring 'arranged generally perpendicular to said plates extending between the end of said third lever arm and said front plate for urgng said third lever arm toward said base plate and said 10 second Iever arm into engagement with said second cam member, a fourth lever arm arranged generally per-pendicular to said second arm, a slot formed in the front plate for receiving an end portion of said fourth lever arm; whereby said lever is efteetively guided for pivotal movement by the cooperation of the end of said fourth 6 lever arm With the slot formed in said front plate, the cooperation of said third lever arm with slot formed in the base plate and the Cooperation of the pivot projection with the hole formed in the base plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 985,693 Olmsted Feb. 28, 1911 1,299,()77 Wehinger Apr. 1, 1919 2,554,809 Bourquin May 29, 1951 2,607,186 Schulze Aug. 19, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 160,805 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1933 326,264 Germany Sept. 25, 1920 

